Contest offers cash prizes for wolf kills in northeastern B.C.

Larry Pynn, Vancouver Sun11.20.2012

Wolf kill contest ‘is about feeding the egos of small men with big guns,’ said UVic scientist Chris Dalimont.NATHAN DENETTE
/ THE CANADIAN PRESS

Advertising for the Peace region wolf killing contest obtained by The Vancouver Sun depicts a snarling, vicious-looking wolf, the sort of image that hunters would not typically observe in the wild.Submitted
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A privately sponsored wolf-kill contest is offering cash and other prize incentives for hunters to shoot the predators this winter in northeast B.C.

Hunters who kill the largest wolves stand to receive $250 to $1,000 and up, with a booby prize of $150 for the smallest wolf and draws for prizes such as a rifle and free taxidermy work.

“It’s just kind of a social thing that’s gotten bigger every year,” said Rich Petersen, a hunter and realtor in Fort St. John who is co-sponsoring the event.

“It’s not a contest to exterminate wolves, not an organized thing where we go out and shoot every wolf in the country. If you are driving down the road and see one and you happen to shoot it and you’re in this contest, you have a chance to win something.”

Advertising for the event obtained by The Vancouver Sun depicts a snarling, vicious-looking wolf, the sort of image that hunters would not typically observe in the wild.

“Bottom line, if you’re going to make a poster you need to draw attention to it,” responded Guy Lahaye, a school teacher and president of the North Peace Rod and Gun Club, which is another co-sponsor. Asked if the image demonizes the wolf, he said: “The wolf has been demonized throughout history. That doesn’t mean it’s a demon.”

Lahaye said in an interview Monday the purpose of the hunt is to “reduce the number of wolves,” especially in agricultural areas but also the 6.4-million hectare Muskwa-Kechika Management Area in the Northern Rockies.

“We’re not talking eradication of wolves, but we are talking sustainable numbers so ungulate populations can survive as well.”

He added of the contest: “I think there will be more interest this year. We will be going ahead with the hunt.”

News of the contest drew quick condemnation, including from Chris Darimont, a conservation scientist in the University of Victoria geography department, who said the event gives the vast majority of hunters a bad name.

“This is not about putting food on the table or feeding families, this is about feeding the egos of small men with big guns,” he said. “There is this focus on size. I’ll leave that up to psychologists as to why, but it seems to dominate those interested in hunting for trophies.”

He said the “biological irony” of the contest is that by taking out the big dominant wolves in a pack hunters only create more problems.

“It’s the worst thing they could be doing,” he said. “Remove the older animals and it leaves a bunch of teenagers in the landscape and they could do things that older more mature wolves do not, such as prey on livestock.”

He argued that the province’s approach to wolf management “permits and encourages this sort of thing,” including through its draft wolf management plan released last week.

Paul Paquet, a research scientist with the Raincoast Conservation Foundation in B.C. who has studied wolves for 40 years, called on the province to ban such contests.

“It’s really questionable,” he said. “It’s hunting from a motivation of hate.”

He added it’s a “back-door way to control wolf populations to improve their hunting opportunities. That’s really what they’re up to.”

The province’s draft wolf management plan showed that B.C.’s “wolf harvest” is at its highest since 1976, when the species was declared a fur-bearer on which royalties are paid to the Crown; a high of 1,400 “wolf removals” occurred in 2009, the plan said.

Lahaye suggested more wolves are being killed because the population is at an all-time high.

Al Martin, a consultant to the 40,000-member B.C. Wildlife Federation, said the hunt is unlikely to have much impact on populations of wolves or ungulates, such as moose or deer.

He said that he believes money raised by hunters should go back into conservation but that he doesn’t see that happening in this wolf contest.

“There are some real visceral reactions to hunting,” he added. “Clearly, some people will be offended by it ….”

The event does not include trapping and supports “fair hunt” methods.

Asked what that means, Lahaye said hunters must respect private property, bag limits and other B.C. hunting regulations, which allow not just high-powered weapons but pickup trucks and snowmobiles to access wolves.

Petersen said about a decade ago a few hunters started a social daylong competition for hunting coyotes on a local farm, an event that has grown and now focuses on wolves; he figures about six were shot last year.

Steve Thomson, Minister of Forests, Lands, and Natural Resource Operations, said that the hunt does not violate any wildlife regulations. He added he plans to discuss the issue further with groups such as the B.C. Wildlife Federation.

The contest runs through March 31 and allows each hunters to submit three wolves.

It costs $50 to enter, with winners receiving 10 to 40 per cent of the entry prize pool in addition to the guaranteed prizes of $150 to $1,000.

In the Peace region, there is no closed hunting season on wolves below 1,100 metres elevation. The province is considering a no bag-limit on wolves in the area.

Other Fort St. John sponsors of the wolf-kill contest include Raven Oilfield Rentals; Backcountry, a fishing and hunting store; T & C Taxidermy; and Mr. Green-Up Envirotech Ltd., which offers hydroseeding services.

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Contest offers cash prizes for wolf kills in northeastern B.C.

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